Andre Godoy Coelho (and Brendan Power) interview

01:32 - Andre is originally from Brazil, now living in Portugal

02:43 - The Brazilian harmonica scene and blues becoming very popular there in the 1990s

03:51 - Andre lived just outside Sao Paulo

04:04 - Started playing harmonica in 1996 and tried some traditional Brazilian music styles on chromatic before settling on the blues diatonic, inspired by Brazilian band Blues Etílicos

05:19 - Started playing chromatic after did some customisation work on them, so he could make them better for his customers

05:53 - First band played pop rock and used some effects on harmonica

06:21 - Bob Dylan was the first harmonica Andre heard

07:03 - First harmonica was a Special 20 MS model, which needed some work to play better, sparking Andre’s interest in customisation

08:37 - Diatonic harmonicas were not that readily available in Brazil at that time, with tremolo and octave harmonicas more popular in shops there

08:53 - Chinese Huang harmonicas became available in Brazil and were of a good quality, and Hering and other makes too

09:41 - Plays some guitar too, although harmonica is main instrument

11:17 - Started playing harmonica age 12

12:13 - Played with the Rio Grande band in Brazil, recording on two of their albums

13:36 - Other band in Brazil

15:11 - Recently recorded an album remotely in a duo called Lapa and Godoy (Godoy being Andre’s stage name)

16:04 - Also gigs with a band in Portugal but focused more on customisation than playing at the moment

16:46 - How remote recording was arranged in the Lapa and Godoy duo

17:54 - Plenty of jazz songs on the duo album, and the use of the Koch harmonica to record some of them

19:01 - How the Koch (diatonic with a slide) works

20:12 - Started playing more chromatic as a result of checking the repairs of chromatics he does for customers

20:20 - One of first customers for customisation work was Antonio Serrano

21:44 - Andre has made some interesting YouTube videos of different musical pieces, including playing the Hohner Little Lady one octave harmonica

22:47 - Lot of the videos Andre posts are on special tunings that customers request

22:58 - Sonic The Hedgehog recording uses a harmonetta

24:00 - Harmonetta’s are difficult to fix, but Andre is one of the few customisers who knows how to service them

25:07 - How Harmonetta’s work

26:32 - Andre has been a customiser since 2019, starting during Covid to keep himself productive

27:35 - Joe Filisko tried one of Andre’s harmonicas on the strength of that recommended him to become a Hohner Affiliated customiser

29:11 - Andre also produces a harmonica pedal called the Yump, as well as a microphone

30:23 - The Yump pedal has different inputs for different types of harmonica mic, and outputs for a passive speaker, and amp or PA

31:47 - Andre mainly uses the Yump pedal connected to the PA when performing

32:03 - Brendan Power joins to discuss the x-reed collaboration between Andre and Brendan and how they got it together

33:45 - The roles they both play in the collaboration, although it’s fluid

35:27 - Andre’s first visit to Canterbury and feeling blessed to be able to work with Brendan

36:19 - Morbendz is the latest creation of x-reed harmonicas

36:28 - Brendan explains how the Morbendz is an adaptation of his previous SlipSlider harmonica

37:39 - How the Mordendz works differently from the Slip Slider

37:55 - The Morbendz comb has twenty partitions instead of the usual ten

38:34 - Only the mouthpiece moves on the harmonica, so it remains very airtight

38:43 - Pressing the slide allows bending to access notes that aren’t available on a standard diatonic

39:33 - The Morbendz provides 14 bends instead of the usual 8

39:39 - Swedish guy contributed the idea to add an extra reed for the 14th bend

40:02 - The extra bends available on the Morbendz: 2 blow, 5 blow, 6 blow, 7 draw, 8 draw, 10 draw

41:03 - The Morbendz allows the diatonic to be played chromatically

42:58 - Brendan thinks people who already use overblows won’t find the transition to the Morbendz that easy due to the notes bending in different directions

43:24 - Beginners will probably find the Morbendz more intuitive

43:29 - Brendan thinks normal bends sound better than overblows (apart from those who are highly skilled playing them)

43:53 - Ideally the Morbendz will be built in a mass produced way in order to make it more accessible and cheaper

44:01 - How easy Morbendz will be to adopt for someone who plays chromatic and diatonic

44:16 - Half-valving a chromatic does allow more bending capability, but Morbendz does provide more bends on standard diatonic

44:49 - Big advantage of the Morbendz is that it can be played like a normal diatonic

45:06 - Brendan and Andre have started releasing videos about the Morbendz, and will continue to do so

45:18 - Example recordings of the Morbendz available to listen to, including from Todd Parrott

46:22 - With the ability to play in different keys on one Morbendz you may only need to add one Morbendz to your existing harmonica collection

47:46 - Andre is building the Morbendz, and is on holiday over the summer but will recommence building them in August

48:24 - Working model between Andre and Brendan is that Brendan comes up with the ideas, develops the concept and then Andre builds them for customers

49:09 - Hope is that a harmonica manufacturer will take these on to mass produce them

49:41 - Two price points for the Morbendz, one with and one without Andre’s customisation

50:23 - Morbendz requires some specific customisation

51:01 - Most customers have ordered the customised version

51:13 - No current plans to take them to festivals this year, but in the future yes

51:52 - The x-reed partnership have plans for more innovations in the pipeline

52:41 - Ten minute question focused on customisation and analogy of changing an amplifier

53:36 - Basic things to set-up on your harmonica: get reed plates straight with correct reed gapping, flat sand the comb

53:52 - Embossing is not always necessary on well made modern harmonicas as the tolerances are already tight

54:35 - Harmonicas of choice are Hohner Special 20s, Marine Bands and the Hohner 270 chromatic

55:10 - Overblows: uses them to bring some variety to the typical blues riffs

55:35 - Embouchre: started puckering but now mainly uses tongue block

56:02 - Mainly plays through the PA using his Yup pedal so doesn’t have to carry large amps

56:58 - Uses some effects: delay, envelope filter for trumpet sound, octaves and chorus sound, and uses the Sub ’n Up pedal from TC Electronic